Sweet and Sour
by Ryouko Akizakura
Summary: Sharon reflects on what Break means to her over a cup of tea, a chocolate covered clown, and a livid puppet. Some things never change. BreakXSharon. I do not own Pandora Hearts. Read and Review.


Hey everyone! ^^ I'm back with a one-shot this time. ^^ This is my first Pandora Hearts Fanfic, and I knwo its much shorter than all of my other one-shots, but, all well. I can't stay in character when it comes to Break very long. Sorry. Anyway, this is a BreakXSharon fanfic, but it isn't romance. At least not the kind of romance I normally write. I wanted to do something simple and light. Although it turned out a little angsty. Damn you, KakaRin. Anyway, I do not own Pandora Hearts, or anything else you may find. ^^ Enjoy! ^^ Oh, and sorry if everyone's out of character. I haven't been watching the show very long, so, yeah...^^

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A hundred years ago, before the tragedy, he was whole. He wasn't broken into twenty million pieces, questioning whether he should still be alive or not. He had no reason for living, once his master fell into the abyss of death. He's fading. Every passing day takes a piece of his soul along with it as it dies, the night eating away at him mercilessly. He is utterly alone.

My mother, Lady Shelly Rainsworth, took him in when I was still very small. I don't remember it clearly, but, he had been covered in blood, his left eye gone, and badly shaken up. Worst of all, he shut everyone out, reacting to questions and comments with a bitterness that burned me from inside and out. It hurt me to see him hurting. He wasn't alive. He wasn't living. He was merely going about his daily activities like a zombie. There was no light glowing in that lone red eye that burned like a crimson flame day in and day out. It felt like all life was taken from him in that instant.

I had to help. I had to help him get through this, had to help support him. But how was I supposed to get him to open up? Because of this, I tended to stay away from him whenever I was alone. I didn't want to be snapped at or blamed for something I didn't do. He was cranky and snarky. But underneath all of that anger and pain, he was ashamed. He was ashamed more than anything. It hurt him to have others look upon that wrapped up eye socket, and silently judge him. It would've hurt me too. But that's no reason to not open up to others in order to ease your pain.

Slowly, but surely, he began to open up, and he started smiling, most of the time weak and faint ones, but they slowly grew brighter as the years passed. My mother was responsible for this. She was responsible for his lightening of nature. It was because of my mother that he let people in when he normally would keep people out. As time passed, he grew more and more carefree, never taking things seriously. I grew up looking to him as a brother, someone to look after me as well as cheer me up when I was down, and to beat the crap out of whenever necessary (He developed bad habits that to this day _still_ tick me off).

So, ten years later, he now has the most laid-back personality I've ever seen, except when he's just inhaled a dozen pounds of sugar. I swear, he's always high on some sugar rush from all of the candies and cakes he eats. It's both amusing, and annoying. He never leaves any for me! I specifically tell him to leave some for me so that I can eat some later, and what does he do? He eats them! Every last one! It ticks me off.

I took a drink of my tea, the warm liquid soothing to my burning throat. He sat on top of the table, leaning his back against the wall, humming to himself and his puppet whom he calls Emily as he read a newspaper and chewed on a lollipop at the same time. I sighed. Some things never changed. On top of his compulsive candy inhaling habits, he was uncivilized and weird, often doing things you normally wouldn't do, such as sitting on a table, or never using a door to enter a building. Because of these quirks, he was often called creepy by most people. I looked up from my tea, and watched little Emily blink her eyes as she sat quietly on his shoulder, reading an article with obvious interest. Like puppet master like puppet. I sighed again. Time to disturb the peace.

"Hey, Break?" I started, setting my tea cup down on the table gently. My comment earned a scornful look from Emily, her eyes narrowed.

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to read about the new candy bar that just came out in stores!" Emily snapped, hissing as she turned back to the newspaper. I blinked.

"S-Sorry Emily." I replied. Break looked up from the newspaper, his lone red eye curious.

"Yes, Milady?" He answered, giving me an expectant look. I took a deep breath.

"I bought a jar of bite sized chocolate bars the other day, and, I tried one, but didn't like it very much. I was wondering if you wanted them." I asked, hesitant. Break's eye lit up.

"Really? Was it the new flavor? Raspberry and Mint mixed together?" He asked enthusiastically. I smiled. One of Break's most potent weak spots is his love for anything that's loaded with sugar.

"Ummm…I didn't really look at the label…I just bit into it and then spit it out." I replied, lifting my finger to my chin, thinking. Break and Emily stared at me anxiously, their eyes glowing with anticipation. Trust Break to overreact about everything that had to do with his sweet heaven.

"Well?" He asked, beyond expectant, bordering on impatient. I resisted the urge to pound him with my paper fan.

"I'm thinking. Wait a few seconds." I thought back to what the label looked like. It had been brown, with traces of red around the edges, dappled with green spots across the surface. I was positive it had been the new one, as the taste of raspberry and mint flooded over my tongue.

"Yeah, it was the new flavor." I answered, Break practically leaning over the table to hug me, Emily wrapping her tiny little arms around my ear.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Break cried, jumped off of the table and tearing toward the door, opening it in one hand, disappearing into the house. Emily was left behind, her little feet soft on my shoulder.

"He left me behind…" She muttered as we stared after Break, my eyes wider than the sun, Emily's downcast. I turned my head toward her, and patted her head gently. _I'm soothing a puppet. Wow. _

"Don't worry. Break'll come back for you." I soothed, rubbing her head gently. Emily smiled and hugged my ear again.

"Thank you, Lady Sharon! Break was right about you! You really are kind." I widened my eyes. _Break had said that? Really? _My mind fizzled out into a state of shock. He actually thought about others? _Where have I been? _I smiled and laughed quietly.

"It's fine. No problem. I just hope he doesn't destroy the kitchen while he's on his rampage. You know Break. Once there's candy or cake involved, no place is safe." Emily nodded in agreement.

"He once dropped me on the floor, and stepped on me!" She sobbed, holding her face in her hands, crying cotton tears. I rolled my eyes, sighing. _I'm still soothing a puppet. Wow, just wow. _

"That's harsh. Well, then I'll bring it to his attention that he needs to watch where he's walking whenever he goes crazy, that sound good?" I suggested, patting her head again. Emily nodded as I stood up and started walking toward the door, abandoning my cup of tea.

"Sure, that works. Now where do you think he is?" Emily asked. My lip curled up into a gentle smile.

"If I know Break as well as I think I do, then he'll be in the kitchen." Emily fell silent as I walked down the hallway toward the sounds of someone inhaling something. It could've been two people. Maybe Alice, who adored meat. Or Break, who loved candy. I turned around the corner, and put my hand to my mouth.

"B-B-Break? Are you okay?" I asked, walking across the kitchen to the now sick Break, who was sitting on the floor holding his stomach with chocolate wrappers on the floor, along with cakes and plates sprawled all over the tiles. He was a mess. A huge, chocolate covered mess.

"…Milady, sorry about the mess." I shook my head, Emily jumping from my shoulder to land on his shoulder, proceeding to kick his skull with her foot.

"You big jerk! You didn't leave any chocolates for me!" She yelled, her face an angry scowl. I started cleaning up the wrappers and plates, letting Emily do my work for me. Once I finished cleaning, I reached behind my back, closing my fingers around my paper fan.

"Break…" I started, walking toward him. He looked up, his red eye suspicious.

"Yes?" He replied carefully. I scowled and whipped my fan out from behind me, and started beating him with it.

"YOU IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF A MESS YOU JUST MADE? HOW DARE YOU DIRTY THE FLOORS WITH YOUR CHOCOLATE RUNOFFS!" I scolded, slapping him with my fan over and over, his face getting redder and redder with each passing slap. My arm started to hurt after about two minutes, and my pinkish eyes flashed, as I lowered my paper fan, unfolding it alongside myself, resting my hand on my hip, taking a deep breath.

"Alright. Break. Next time this happens, I won't buy anymore candy for you." I announced, sighing. Break just stared back up at me with a cool and calm expression, unfazed, although his face was red. Completely red. I hadn't held back, that's for sure. I felt terrible now. I knelt down, putting my fan away, and leaned forward, checking him over.

"Are you okay, Break?" I asked, gently touching his throbbing cheek with my fingers. They burned. Break nodded.

"You hit me pretty hard, Milady. But, despite that, I'll be alright." I smiled, and hugged him. Break looked down at me, surprised, but let me hug him.

"I take that back. I'll buy you candy more often." I replied, closing my eyes. Break smiled, a faint, weak smile.

"Thank you, Lady Sharon." He answered, Emily jumping down onto my head.

"And you'd better buy me some too, Lady Sharon! And keep _him_ away from _my_ stash." She ordered, sitting down on the top of my skull. I nodded, and smiled.

"Sure, Emily. I'll get you some too." I answered, sighing. _I just told a puppet I'd get her some candy. Wow, just wow. Again. _

I knew he wasn't perfect, but, these moments of closeness were warm and gentle to me. Break had opened up, not just to my mother, but to me too. I could make him smile too. I could do all of the things my mother could do. I felt accomplished. I felt like Break could trust me, and let me be of use to him. I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to help him find what he wanted to find. Like a sister would.

To me, Break was more than a manservant. He was my older brother, someone I looked up to. Sure, his quirks made it so that it was hard to get to know him. But once you got past that carefree and lighthearted exterior, he was truly a wonderful person. Break thought of himself as only thinking of him and not of others. Had that been true, he wouldn't have done all of the things that he's done for me, such as keep me company, look after me, and give me someone to cling to when I was hurt or lonely.

To me, the only way for me to repay him was to help him in his search for whatever he was looking for in any way I could. He deserved that at the very least. As well as some beatings and candy splurges every once in a while. If that's what it took to get him to open up to me and let me in, then I would do that. Break still hid things from me, like where he was going or what he was doing, but, I always knew he'd come back. He cared about me too much. Well, not just about me. But the others, like Oz, Alice, Gilbert, Emily, Lady Shelly. He cared about everybody, whether he wanted to admit it or not. I sighed.

"Break?" I asked, taking a deep breath. He looked down at me.

"Yes?" Was his reply. I smiled.

"Thank you." I answered. Break flinched in surprise, then smiled again.

"It's alright."


End file.
